History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 76

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 76

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Great Freshet of 1850.1-The most destructive flood that ever occurred in the Schuylkill Valley visited Reading on Monday, September 2, 1850. The loss of life was heartrending and the destruction of property immeuse. The ex-

1 See Berks and Schuylkill Journal, September 7, 1850 ; also Reading Gazette and Democrat of same date, in which the particulars are detailed minutely.

431

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

tent of the calamity in damages to persons and property could not be estimated. It fell upon rich and poor, and also upon the public. It came near destroying the Schuylkill naviga- tion. It swept away bridges, dams, mills, factories and workshops. . . The flood came suddenly and altogether unexpected. In this vicinity it commenced to rain on Sunday evening. At the source of the river rain fell for twelve hours before. During the night rain poured down in torrents. Early in the next morning the people residing along the river were aroused from their beds by the rapid rising of the waters, which was unprecedented. At four A. M., Monday the water was confined within the banks of the river ; at six it had risen ten feet higher, overflowing the canal and rushing through all the lower streets of the city ; at eight it was as high as the freshet of 1841 ; at ten, the Penn Street bridge was forced from its piers, when it floated down the streani. It carried along the Lancaster bridge, which had withstood the floods of half a century. It was soon after followed by the following bridges : Kissinger's, Leize's and Althouse's. Every bridge on the river from Pottsville to Royers- ford was swept away, excepting the Railroad (or High) bridge above Reading (at Tuckerton). The flood reached its bighest point at three P. M. The whole lower part of the city was inundated. Many houses were submerged to the second and third stories. In some there were men, women and children, and these called for help. Substantial brick buildings, whose foundations had been weakened by the water, fell in every direction. Frame houses, barns, sheds, bridges, canal-boats, etc., floated down the river in one general wreck.

There were many narrow escapes. The loss of life in Reading and vicinity was confined to a single family. It was that of William Sands, a puddler at the rolling-mill of Bertolet & Co., who resided on Front, below Franklin Street. The flood had surrounded the houses before the inmates could make their escape. The family consisted of Mr. Sands, wife and three children- the youngest being an infant only eight weeks old; also a hired girl and an unknown man. They took refuge in the second story. Both

ends of the house had been waslied out. As two men (William Seitzinger and William Moyer) approached to render aid, Mrs. Sands held out the child at arm's length ; and just before they reached the building it fell, engulfing all. Two of the children were drowned immediately. Seitzinger and Moyer narrowly escaped with their lives. The man and hired girl caught hold of a piece of floating wood and were there- by enabled to be saved. Mr. and Mrs. Sands and the babe were carried down the river on the second floor of the building. The babe lay 'on a chaff-bag. The child was soon drowned by the surf. Near the rolling-mill Sands clung to a tree, and was rescued. He begged his wife to do likewise, but her strength failed her. Several boats with men were started after her to save her, but they could not reach her; whilst she floated down the river, a number of persons followed on theshore to the "Big Dam." In this dam there was a large. break and in this fearful current she was drowned. Through the whole distance her shrieks were most agonizing. Her body was found during the next day in a corn-field, about a mile below the dam, and brought to the city. A single daughter-who was absent from the house at the time-alone remained of the family to share her father's sorrows and most melancholy bereavement.

The two men named had been out all morn- ing before this occurrence, and had rescued over thirty people from situations of extreme peril. The wife and three children of Eli Marks -- a ferryman at Reeser's ferry, below Althouse's bridge-were also drowned. Whilst he and they were endeavoring to save their property, the house was surrounded by water, and they were forced to the garret for refuge. But the water continued to rise. He then broke a hole through the roof, and drew up his wife and children. Immediately afterward the house fell, and the roof broke in two parts-leaving him on one part and his wife and children on the other. The latter were drowned before floating any considerable distance. He floated down on a log to which he had clung and was rescued at Kissinger's bridge (a distance of nine miles).

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Aaron Kemp, a blacksmith at Althouse's locks, in attempting to save his tools, was also drowned in spite of efforts to rescne him.

Houses, etc., at. Reading entirely or nearly destroyed, were estimated at, 100; particularly noted, 69. Above Penn, 3; Front and Water Streets, between Peun and Franklin, 14 ; Frank- lin, from Water to Second, 10; Front, between Franklin and Chestnut, 5; Chestnut, from Water to Third, 8; Canal and Water, from Third Street to rolling-mill, 29. At least 400 dwellings, with furniture, were more or less injured.

Nine bridges were swept away :- County- Penn Street,1 Lancaster, Poplar Neck ; Company, -Hamburg, Mohrsville, Althouse's, Kissin- ger's, Birdsboro', Douglassville.

Opposite Reading the Schuylkill rose from twenty-three to twenty-five feet above its ordinary level. It is said to have been five feet ten inches higher than the celebrated Pumpkin Freshet of 1786.

Water covered the river road at Reese's mill several feet. It forced its way up Penn to within a few feet of Second ; np Franklin with- in a half-square of Third; up Chestnut to Third, surrounding Lauer's brewery ; up Third to near Chestnut; up Spruce, within a half square of Fourth; up Fourth to Bingaman ; up Fifth, half square beyond the gas works, and a hundred yards up Sixth Street.

The aggregate loss occasioned by the freshet, to our community was estimated at five hundred thousand dollars.

On September 4, 1850, the City Councils ap- propriated five thousand dollars to relieve the sufferers from the freshet.

Richard Boone, General William High and Benjamin Tyson were appointed a committee to make distribution.

A number of ladies of the city established a clothing depot at Fifth and Spruce Streets and there, on Fifth Street, they relieved the wants of one hundred and thirty persons by supplying them with clothing.

Freshet of 1862 .- A freshet occurred in June,

1862, which occasioned great damage and loss of property, especially in the eastern section of the state, along the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers. At Reading a heavy rain began to fall on Tuesday night, June 3d, and continued the whole of Wednesday till Thursday morning, when the water reached a point within eight' feet as high as the great freshet of 1850. All- the railroad trains were detained. The loss here was not great, amounting to several thous- and dollars.

Freshet of 1869 .- A heavy rain commenced to fall on Saturday night, October 2, 1869, and continued through the whole of Sunday. On Monday the river rose rapidly. At eleven o'clock in the morning the water reached a point twenty-three feet above low-water mark. The lower section of the city was overflooded, and all the mills, factories and work-shops along the river were injured. The total damage was not estimated, but it exceeded fifty thousand dollars. The eastern span of the Lancaster bridge was washed away, also one span of the Poplar Neck. A number of bridges spanning creeks in different parts of the county were destroyed, and many grist-mills suffered considerable damage. The City Councils appropriated one thousand dollars for the relief of suffering families along the river.

DISCOLORATION OF WATER .- The natural color of the flowing water in the river was changed at different times to so great an extent as to excite public attention. The change was to a light blue. It was caused by the inter- mingling of the water from the mining regions in the upper Schuylkill-charged with sulphuric acid-with the lime stone water from its tribu- tary the Maiden-creek. Immediately above the point of confluence (which is distant about eight miles north of Reading, along the river) ; the water, and specially the bed of the river, had a red or rusty appearance ; but below it, a white sediment was formed upon the bed of the river, and the water became light blue. This combination was injurious to the fishes in the river, numbers of them having at times been seen floating dead upon the surface of the water. Dur- ing 1853 it was particularly discolored. This discoloration was not continuous. It appeared at

1 The Penn Street bridge was started by a boat striking against it.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

433

irregular intervals. Several years ago the admix- ture was so strong as to follow the current and be noticeable along the entire course of the Schuyl- kill to Philadelphia, notwithstanding the great influx of waters from the numerous tributaries between Reading and Philadelphia. It caused the death of many fishes, and it awakened the attention of the water commissioners of Phila- delphia to its cause and character.

BRIDGES.

Long before the first settlements in this vicinity there had been a ford across the river at Reading. And this was the only conveni- ent ford for some distance above and below. It was used for seventy years after the town had been laid out. The only steps in advance of the first settlers was the introduction of a ferry- boat. This is, indeed, a surprising fact. A town otherwise so progressive in respect to trade, etc., and possessing numerous men of energy and wealth, not to induce the con- struction of a bridge, so as to facilitate and en- courage ingress into and egress out of the town ! Such tardiness, such indifference we can hardly appreciate. The crossing of the river in a ferry- boat, or by fording it, was always accompanied with risk.1

HARRISBURG BRIDGE .- In 1795 a petition was presented to the Quarter Sessions of the county, praying the court to order the grand jury to consider the advisability of the erection of a stone bridge over the river at the foot of Penn Street. The grand jury made a view and recommended an appropriation of thirty-two thousand dollars for this purpose, which recom- mendation was approved by the court. But this sum was deemed insufficient. The peti- tioners then devised the plan of raising suffi- cient money by a " lottery," and in this behalf obtained an Act of Assembly, passed the 29th of March, 1796, which was as follows :

"WHEREAS, a number of the inhabitants of the county of Berks, by petition, have stated to the Leg- islature that the Grand Jury of the same have lately voted thirty-two thousand dollars out of the public stock of said county for the purpose of erecting a stone bridge over the river Schuylkill at or near the place where the public road from Philadelphia through Reading to Harrisburg crosses the same, and that the said sum will be inadequate to the comple- tion of this desirable object. Therefore,

"SEC. 1 .- Be it enacted, &c., that the three county commissioners for the time being, together with Jos. Hiester, Jas. Diemer, Thos. Dundas, Jas. May, John Otto, John Keim, Daniel Graeff and Sebastian Miller be commissioners to raise $60,000 by way of lottery, to be applied in erecting a good stone bridge over the river Schuylkill, etc."

Lottery Scheme .- In pursuance of this act, a notice of the lottery was published in the news- papers at Reading. This notice was as follows :

"Scheme of a lottery for raising sixty thousand dollars, agreeably to an Act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, passed during the last session, for building a stone bridge over the river Schuylkill, at the borough of Reading, in the county of Berks.

1 Prize of 20,000 Dollars $20,000

1 do of 10,000 do 10,000

3 do of 5,000

15,000

4 do of 2,000 do

8,000

do of 1,000 do

20,000

80 do of 200

.16,000

200

of 100

20,000

300 do of 50

.15,000

1 do of 500 do to be paid to the pos- sessor of the first drawn number. 500

5 do of 3,000 do

to be paid to the pos- sessor of the five last drawn numbers .. .15,000

9400 do of 15 do

141,000

10,054 Prizes 19,946 Blanks

$300,000

30,000 Tickets at ten Dollars $300,000

"All prizes shall be paid fifteen days after the drawing is finished, upon the demand of the possessor of a fortunate ticket, subject to a deduction of twenty per cent. The drawing will commence as soon as the tickets are disposed of, or perhaps sooner, of which public notice will be given.

" Reading, May the 29th, 1796.

" Philip Miller, Joseph Hiester,

Peter Kershner, James Diemer,

William Whitman, Tho. Dundas,

James May,

Dan. Graeff,

John Otto, Sebast. Miller,

John Keim, "Commissioners.

39 do of 500

do 19,500

1 An account of a "Melancholy Accident " at this ferry on Monday, October 20, 1800, was published in the Weekly Advertiser, a publication at Reading. Seven per- sons (three men, three women and a girl) were then about to cross the river in a boat to attend "Battalion Day," but, through carelessness, the boat turned and was upset. All the occupants were thrown out. The meu were rescued, but the women and girl were drowned.

434

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

"Tickets may be had of either of the aforesaid commissioners, at their respective places of abode, in the county of Berks. In Harrisburg, at Alex. Gray- don and Wm. Graydon, Esq'rs., and at Messrs. Michael Kapp, Wm. Mears and George Ziegler's."

The commissioners awakened a considerable interest in behalf of the bridge, but they were not able to sell five thousand of the thirty thousand tickets, and they did not have the smallest prospect of disposing of the remainder within a reasonable time, so as to enable them to draw the said lottery. They therefore prayed the Legislature to authorize them to take back the tickets sold, to have their ac- counts settled, etc., and to repeal the act, which was done on the 29th of March, 1798. This first effort accordingly proved unsuccessful.

In 1801 another application was made to the Quarter Sessions for a view and an appropria- tion. The petition of divers inhabitants of the county represented :

"That a bridge is much wanted to be erected over the River Schuylkill in the Borough of Reading, at the place where the public highway crosses the said river on the Great Road from Philadelphia to Har- risburg, where it is frequently rendered impassable by means of ice and high water-that a former grand jury, with the concurrence of the Court, appropriated £14,000 to erect a stone arch bridge at the place aforesaid, which sum on calculation was discovered to be totally insufficient for the purpose, in conse- quence whereof a Lottery was instituted to assist the county in constructing the said bridge; that after great efforts and industry by the Lottery Commission- ers to dispose of the tickets, they were not able to sell so many as to render it safe or practicable to draw the lottery-that from these causes the attempt to erect a stone bridge at the place aforesaid has altogether failed."

They concluded their petition with a prayer for a " wooden bridge," and estimated the prob- able expense at six thousand pounds. The grand jury acted upon the petition at August sessions, 1801, and recommended an appropriation of sixteen thousand dollars, which was to be as- sessed at three yearly equal payments. The courts approved of their action on August 6, 1801. The county commissioners then proceeded to cause the erection of a " wooden bridge." The contract was awarded to Obediah Osburn, on August 19th following, and the contractor began operations in earnest. What pride the people

must have taken in watching the progress of this much-needed improvement ! What anxiety they must have felt for the accomplishment of this undertaking ! They doubtless wanted to see it completed. But they could not hurry the work. " Great bodies move slowly." This was a "great body," a big thing for the times. But the people were too anxious, the contractor failed at the piers, with much timber lying along the banks of the river. This was natural, and yet it was more interesting than natural. Ad- ditional appropriations were wanted. Possibly some of the good people were afraid of a wooden bridge in respect to strength and performance, and therefore preferred a stone bridge. And in this supposition there is more truth than fiction. The subsequent proceedings would indicate that this idea was entertained by the people. The county commissioners had expended thirty thousand dollars for what was done, and it was estimated that seventy thousand dollars more would be required to complete the bridge if built of stone. The county was then in arrears for unpaid State taxes, amouuting to $4789.12; and the Legislature offered this sum as an in- ducement to build the bridge of stone, an act for this purpose having been passed on April 2, 1804.

At January sessions, 1805, a third petition was presented to court. This represented :

"Th it the Commissioners agreed with a certain person to build a wooden bridge, and did also cause to be built two abutments of stone on each bank and two piers in the river ; that the person has not been able to perform his contract and the building of said bridge has beeu frustrated.

"That if the notion of building either a wooden or stone bridge be entirely abandoned, it will evince great imbecility or at least a great want of public spirit in one of the richest and most populous counties in the State of Pennsylvania. The want of a bridge at the place aforesaid will continue to be felt and the inconvenience arising from it will become augmented in proportion to the population, agriculture and com- merce ; that public opinion is now against a wooden bridge and for a stone arch bridge ; that a wooden bridge without additional piers would be impracticable and unsafe; that the three additional piers to be required for a wooden bridge would be much towards expense of this bridge, which would not be twice the expense of completing a wooden bridge."

It was accompanied by a proposed plan, which

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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

suggested eight arches : two of thirty-seven feet, two of fifty-six feet, two of seventy feet and two of eighty-four feet, and the probable ex- pense was estimated at twenty-five thousand pounds. The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the return of the grand jury was approved by the court.

Notwithstanding this encouragement fromn the grand jury and the court, the county commissioners would appear to have been in- different to the matter, and in 1806 a com- plaint was made to court, representing that the stone-work was suffering from neglect ; and then again the grand jury recommended a stone bridge. For six years afterward this enterprise lay in idleness. What was the dif- ficulty in the way? Who can imagine? On February 22, 1812, an act was passed author- izing the county commissioners to build a stone bridge and charge toll, and providing that, when the principal invested in its con- struction was realized from the tolls, it should be declared free. But still the matter halted. Another act was passed on February 21, 1814, which modified the previous act, by giving the commissioners the power to build either a stone or wooden bridge. This was a fortunate modification, not so much for the bridge as for the people. The delegation of discretion- ary power to the commissioners apparently won them over to the improvement, and they at once ordered the bridge to be erected-not of stone, for thereby they would have favored the wishes of the people and carried out the recommendations of the grand jury, but of wood. The bridge was so far completed as to be passable in December, 1815; and it was finished in 1818. The first passage over it was made by Coleman's stage-coach on December 20, 1815. Many persons were present to wit- ness the occurrence, and they demonstrated their joy by loud applause. Well may we ask, What stood in the way of this important, much demanded improvement for nearly twenty years? Was it the stone which is typical in so many respects and hangs about so many necks to prevent the accomplishment of noble pur- poses ? or was it the ferry-boat under the con- trol of a politician ? And such was the exer-

tion, and so long was the period to obtain the "Harrisburg Bridge," the first public improve- ment of the town beyond the court house and prison 1 The bridge was six hundred feet long, three spans of two hundred feet each, covered by a roof. The builders were Wernweg & Johnston. They began in March, 1814. The contract price was thirty-nine thousand five hundred dollars. Their workmanship was highly complimented. John Weldy was ap- pointed as the first toll collector. The rates of toll were as follows :

Foot-way 1c

Every 20 sheep

" swine. 10c

" cattle. 20c

" horse or mule 4c

Horse and rider. 6℃

Sulky, &c., with 2 wheels and 1 horse 12}c

Carriage and 2 horses. 25c

4 " 4 37₺c

Stage-coach and 2 horses 20c

4 30c

Sleigh and each horse. 6c

Draft sleigh and horse 5c

Wagon or cart horse. 6c

The subject of a "Free Bridge " was agitated as early as 1821, just three years after the bridge was completed. This related more par- ticularly to persons. To accomplish this object, a petition was presented to the Legislature in February, 1821.

In February, 1846, petitions were presented to the Legislature " to declare the Harrisburg bridge free," setting forth that the bridge cost $50,438.15, and that the act under which it was built required it to become free whenever the toll collected amounted to the cost of its construction.

At August sessions, 1848, a petition was pre- sented to court, representing that the tolls received from the bridge, excluding the pay to toll gatherers, amounted to $52,439.89, and that the expenditure amounted to $50,438.15, where- fore the petitioners asked the court to declare the bridge free. The county commissioners objected to the proceedings, and replied to the petition that the income had not amounted to the expense by $28,065.50, submitting the fol- lowing statement as to the cost :

Expense of abutments and piers, $20,510.25 ;

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

payment to Osborne, first contractor, $8833.42; payınent to Warnweck & Nathans, builders, $49,297.94 ; repairs from 1836 to 1848, $1863 .- 97; total, $80,505.58.

And they also alleged that, by reason of the balance still due, the bridge would not be free for fifteen years to come.

The subject was agitated for over thirty years afterward. The county bridges-Harrisburg, Lancaster and Poplar Neck-were not declared free till 1883. This great step forward was obtained through the instrumentality of the City Councils 1 of Reading-an earnest and suc- cessful application in this behalf having been made to court, upon the representation that the tolls received exceeded the cost of erecting and maintaining them, and the judge having de- cided that the bridges must be declared free under the legislation which authorized their erection. The adjudication was made on March 28, 1883.

In 1884 it was demolished by the Schuylkill Valley Railroad Company, and this company erected in its stead a superior iron bridge at an ex- pense exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. The county commissioners appropriated thirty- three thousand dollars toward the cost. The new bridge became a necessity, owing to the railroad improvements along the river.

HAMBURG BRIDGE .- Across the Schuylkill River, at a point several miles south of the Blue Mountain, there was a prominent ford -having been the direct course from Harris' ferry, on the Susquelianna River, to Easton, on the Delaware River. After the vicinity became considerably settled the ferry-boat was intro- duced, which continued in use till the substitu- tion of a bridge, in 1828.

During the progress of the " Penn Street Bridge," at Reading, the subject of a bridge was discussed at Hamburg, and the spirit created thereby was sufficient to result in the passage of an act of Assembly on March 19, 1816, for its erection. The act authorized the formation of a corporation for this purpose, with power to issne four hundred shares of stock, of

the par value of twenty-five dollars; but no practical results flowed from this first effort. Eleven years afterward. (April 14, 1827) an act was passed appropriating six thousand dol- lars from the State for the erection of a bridge over the Schuylkill, near Hamburg, on the State road from Jonestown (Lebanon County) to Northampton County. The bridge was erected during the following year by the commissioners of the county, and confirmed by the court on Jannary 12, 1829. It has been maintained by the county since. Toll was charged till Dc- cember, 1883, when it was made a free bridge.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 76

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418